On Repeat: June (Outbreak Festival Special)

June was a sick month for me, I went to Download festival for the first time (for the Saturday, on my own), saw Chaos in the CBD and Interplanetary Criminal, Red Hot Chili Peppers and went to Outbreak Festival in Manchester. I have already touched on Download in May’s edition of On Repeat, and always pick dance music tracks so I’m gonna do something different for June. This is an Outbreak Festival special edition, where I am going to pick ten songs from my favourite bands I saw that weekend:

Counterparts – Nothing Left To Love – First up for the Outbreak special edition of On Repeat is Counterparts’ Nothing Left To Love from their 2019 album of the same name. It’s the closing song on the album and is beautiful one to finish with. The Canadian hardcore band warmed up for the festival on the Thursday night at the pre show on the second stage, alongside Guilt Trip, Static Dress and a couple of others. They didn’t play this song during their set, and they didn’t even play The Disconnect (???), but they still killed it all the same.

Incendiary – Front Toward Enemy – This was my first time seeing Incendiary, who I have been listening to since early 2020. Front Toward Enemy is from their 2017 album, Thousand Mile Stare, which is fucking sick from start to finish, definitely my favourite album from them. They played the main stage on the Friday afternoon which was the first official day of Outbreak and they were absolutely brilliant, I would love to see them again for sure.

Your Demise – The Kids We Used To Be – Also on the Friday on the main stage was UK hardcore band Your Demise. I used to love them when I was in school and had never seen them before this day, so a nostalgic void was filled, and I was lucky to catch this set as apparently it was their final performance together as a band. TKWUTB is from their 2010 album of the same name, and their third studio album. It’s definitely one of their more fun, poppy tracks and it never gets old.

Knocked Loose – All My Friends – A band I have listened to and loved for a long time now are Knocked Loose, and I finally got to see them for the first time at Outbreak, as they headlined the main stage on the Friday night. Their set was absolutely insane, I was both blown away and terrified all at the same time. Bryan Garris is an incredible frontman, the energy during their set was something else. People were getting escorted out by first aiders and even wheelchaired out, after they had to stop their set due to it getting so wild in the pits, I hope everyone was okay and didn’t rock out too hard. All My Friends is from their 2014 debut Pop Culture EP, and was then re-released on the 2019 Mistakes Like Fractures single. They played All My Friends in their Outbreak set , where they were also joined by Malevolence’s Alex Taylor for this song. Malevolence were also the secret set on the Friday which was awesome.

Superheaven – Around The Railing – Superheaven played on the Sunday which was what I had waited all weekend for as I had want to see them for years, their 2013 Jar album is one of my favourites of all time – I have mentioned it before as I’ve featured Knew from the album in my On Repeat series before. It was so good to finally hear some of their songs from Jar played live as well as other songs from their second album Ours Is Chrome, which came out in 2015.

Basement – Bad Apple – One of the sets I was looking forward to the most and one of my favourites all weekend was Basement’s, where they did a ten year anniversary set dedicated to their albums, Colourmeinkindness and I Wish I Could Stay Here. Bad Apple was the second song on the setlist and it’t one of my favourite songs they have done, it’s a metaphor for a person who is enticing and delicious on the outside but bitter and problematic on the inside. I think this was my third time seeing Basement and they were brilliant as always.

Turnstile – Alien Love Call – Another one of my favourite sets that weekend was Turnstile’s, who are one of my favourite bands. I saw them for the first time in January this year in Nottingham on the T.L.C tour and they were amazing so it was great to see them again, but this time at a festival. This time around at Outbreak was the better time I saw the of the two, it was so much more fun in the big warehouse where the main stage was with so many other people there. Their set was crazy and fun-fuelled, and I came out wet through with sweat! Alien Love Call is from their latest album Glow On and is one of two songs on the album featuring British alternative R&B producer Blood Orange, AKA Dev Hynes. This is one of their slower, sadder songs but it is such a flex for a hardcore band to be collaborating with Blood Orange.  

Fiddlehead – USMA – Another band I have been listening to since early 2020 is Pat Flynn’s band Fiddlehead, consisting of other Have Heart members and members of Basement also. They played Saturday afternoon on the main stage and I really enjoyed their set, I have become really fond of them over the past two years and they mean a lot to me. USMA is from their 2018 album Springtime and Blind and is one of the singles released prior to the album. This is a song about grief, in which Flynn reflects on the death of his father, so there’s something I can really relate to and resonate with in this one.

Loathe – Two-Way Mirror – Loathe are a band I hadn’t listened to much at all before Outbreak, but after seeing their set on the Sunday it definitely made me want to listen to them more, which I have been doing. Something about Scouse metal bands seems funny, especially the way frontman Kadeem France asks the crowd if they’ve been drinking enough water. Two-Way Mirror has incredibly strong Deftones vibes (no surprise why I picked this song for them!) I really love the ambient, dreaminess of this song and it is certainly far away from their heavier, screamier songs which are also just as sick.

Drug Church – Weed Pin – We managed to catch a bit of Drug Church on the Saturday as well and from what I saw of their set they were really good. Not a band I massively listen to, as I went for their more popular songs that I knew (Million Miles of Fun, But Does It Work?, for example). Weed Pin is from the band’s 2018 album, Cheer and is a satirical take on social and political matters of adulthood, finding work when you don’t know what to do with life.

Thank you so much for reading, the On Repeat playlist has been updated below, and I hope to see some of you at next year’s Outbreak Festival at Mayfield Depot!

On Repeat: January 2022

Welcome to the first edition of On Repeat for 2022. Here are my top ten tracks I loved the most in the first month of the the year.

Pretty Girl – Sun Phase (Human Movement Remix) – Australian producer Human Movement’s remix of also Australian producer and singer Pretty Girl’s Sun Phase feels like a collaboration of two worlds, by sounding like both a fresh and electric club cut, whilst at the same time a melodic head release and a breath of fresh air. Sun Phase features airy melodies and romantic vocal samples to make a frenetically charged dance track, released in July 2021 on Gallery Recordings.

Baltra – Dreaming Of A Disco – Philadelphia raised, but New York based Baltra has delivered an effortlessly lovely disco track on the EP of the same name, released in August of last year on the ever impressive label, Shall Not Fade. The four track EP is Baltra’s first full length EP since 2019, which opens with disco loops and 80s chords held down by a bassline so infectious that you just can’t not listen to it.

Trudge – No Future – This has been on my heavier dance music release favourites playlist for quite some time now, and after having lost it deep within the collection, I recently reconnected with this track thanks to my Spotify daily mixes. This is a single released in October of 2020, and is an industrial techno track with just a little bit of bounce. This dancefloor shaker of a track deserves to be blasted within warehouse raves across the world, in the darkness only illuminated the strobe lights.

Lauer – Trainmann (Tensnake Franceman Mix) – German DJ and producer Tensnake took to the studio in March of 2012 and remixed fellow German producer Lauer’s track Trainmann. This house track features an impressive electric synth loop, combined with a funky bassline making it an overall bright and beaming track that almost sounds like it could be a disco tune. It would be perfect for those sunny afternoons in a festival field, when the day turns to night.

Echoes Of October, Tham – Jane Fonda – It wouldn’t be On Repeat if I didn’t feature at least one track of hard techno. German and Polish DJs and producers Echoes of October and Tham collaborated to create Jane Fonda, which comes from a VA compilation album released in 2020 called TAR Various Artists, featuring tracks from techno DJs such as Rebekah, DYEN and more. This track in particular has an intense build up and vocal samples from the New York actress and fitness guru herself, just with a lot more distortion in her voice.

999999999 – P05535510N – Italian techno duo 999999999 (pronounced nine by nine, I think), were part of the first VA released on French label Possession in 2020 with their track, suitably called P05535510N. This EP also features Hector Oaks & DJ KAOS11, Nene H and Pawlowski, but this one is my favourite out of the four tracks on there, this one being the third. The Mario & Luigi of techno music go in HARD on P05535510N, but then again, when do they ever fail to satisfy on a release? This was a fantastic track to be selected for the first VA, and set the tone of what else to expect from the label brilliantly, aggressive techno at its finest.

Porij – 150 – On the more softer side of tracks for this month, I have selected Manchester based Porij’s 150, released on 2020 on the quartet’s debut EP, Breakfast. I am a sucker for the slower, soft indie instrumental tracks and this one in particular features stunning use of guitar that is addictively soothing, and a female vocal sample, with the only lyrics throughout the track being, “tell me what you want me for, me for”.

Joy Orbison, Léa Sen – Better – Joy Orbison’s track Better featuring Léa Sen is the second track I have featured in my On Repeat series from his album Still Slipping Vol. 1; but how can I help it when it’s just so damn good? The album is my favourite from 2021 and this track and Bernard? are my two favourites from the glorious body of work. Last time I featured Bernard? and it was a close call between that or this, so it got a feature on my January favourites playlist. Anyway, Better is one of the more lyrical pieces on the album, which boasts gorgeous vocals from Léa, adding the overall silky smooth feeling of the track, it is electro with elegance and class.

Chromatics – Cherry – One track I have been absolutely obsessed with throughout January (and the rest of 2022 so far if I am completely honest) is Cherry by The Chromatics. This is another one of my discoveries from my Spotify daily mixes; after I heard it for the first time and initially thought it was Schoolboy Q’s Man Of The Year, until upon looking at my phone I realised I was wrong, but then also went on to discover that this is in fact the original track he sampled the opening beat from on his hit song from the 2014 classic Oxymoron album. I have a lot of respect for Chromatics after their track Tick of The Clock was featured on the soundtrack for my favourite film, Drive; so it was lovely to delve an inch further into their catalogue. This is an amazing song with hauntingly beautiful shoegaze-like instrumentals throughout, and one for warm night drives, and one that evokes a feeling of fearlessness.

Turnstile – Real Thing – One event I attended in January was Turnstile’s Nottingham date on their UK tour of their 2021 hit album, Glow On. Like I always do, I kept myself excited by listening to their releases in the lead up to the gig. Real thing is the opening song on their 2018 Time & Space album, which sets the tone for the rest of the album with frontman Brendan Yates’ edgy and sharp vocals as well as sludgy guitar riffs. If you’re not yet into hardcore, you will be after listening to Turnstile and Time & Space in full especially.